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Recently, I’ve been learning a lot about myself, mainly my personality type, strengths and weaknesses. A few of you might remember the “spiritual gifts” assessments from years ago. In the church world, they used to be all the craze, especially among evangelicals and charismatics. I’m not sure how popular they are now.

Incidentally, did you know religious “gift assessments” are based on the same analytics as secular personality tests? However, the match-up of personality types to spiritual gifts is rather janky and biased due to varied theological differences. Basically, they are cheap, pseudo-religious knockoffs of psychological tests, which simply swap recognized personality traits for choice spiritual gift terms.

Obviously, there’s nothing “spiritual” about gifts assessments. Nonetheless, for the religious market, they have proven very profitable, not only in dollars, but also in the targeting of a gullible volunteer base eager to demonstrate their newly discovered gifts.

My Current Exploration

In the past few months, I’ve taken a couple of personality tests, and I’m not referring to ones you might find in your social media newsfeed. One was for work, and another was recommended by a friend.

As I’ve viewed myself under a magnifying glass, I’m forced to acknowledge I’ve entered into a season of intense deconstruction/reconstruction as it concerns my inherited belief systems, identity and purpose. For those who know me, this isn’t a surprise. Currently, my main curiosity is in investigating my relationship with religion and morality.

Religious Morality?

Generally, people believe their preferred faith (God) dictates their sense of right and wrong (morality). However, social psychologist Nicholas Epley and his fellow research colleagues, discovered the exact opposite to be true. In short, their experiments revealed that people’s individual moral opinions dictated their conception of God’s morality, and not the other way around.

When people were asked if God thinks a certain thing is right or wrong, they subconsciously accessed the part of their brain where their personal opinions reside. Then, they consciously attributed their own sense of morality for God’s morality, even if it contradicted the Bible, or whatever their preferred sacred text was.

With this in mind, perhaps it’s reasonable to conclude, the “divine voice” and the “self voice” are largely indistinguishable. The same experiment further revealed, when a person revised their moral opinion, they promptly updated their conception of God’s moral position. Does this surprise you, or not at all?

Personally, I can’t help but ask the obvious question: which came first, God or morality? Unsurprisingly, religion says God and psychology argues the opposite. I’m sure you have your own opinion though. And for some of you reading this right now, I wouldn’t doubt you believe God agrees with your current viewpoint.

The God Stamp

In our contemporary times, we are inundated weekly with headlines of horrific, immoral sexual-abuse coverups within the two largest sects of Christianity — Catholicism & the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The NY Catholic Diocese has already paid out $228 million to victims, and there are well over a 1,000+ known cases yet to be decided this year! Certain bankruptcy is predicted. Perhaps we’ll finally get to see what treasures the Vatican has been hoarding in their secret vaults, i.e. the Ark of Covenant!?

As it concerns the SBC, time will tell how much they will be forced to pay for decades of dismissing reported abuse and rape within their churches and associated schools/colleges. Just in the last 10+ years alone, over one million members have voted with their attendance by leaving! Clearly, the question of religion’s influence upon morality, for good or bad, is worth exploring.

Dr. Epley’s experimental evidence revealed, a person’s sense of right and wrong is highly subjective and largely informed by peers and numerous cultural components, i.e. parents, friends, teachers, ministers, books, cable news, social media, YouTube, politics, documentaries, etc. Adding to this, I would suggest that when any one of these components infers or imposes a “God stamp of approval” upon what’s right or wrong, a vast array of social ills are at risk of becoming religiously justified and excused. For proof, one need only look to recent news headlines.

No Agendas

Obviously, you are free to draw your own conclusions and think whatever you want. I certainly am not concealing any hidden agenda to proselytize you one way or the other. Personally, I feel it’s more important how you behave, than it is what you believe.

It’s been my observation that beliefs/convictions tend to be like shifting sands, shaped and reshaped by the constant waves of experience and maturity. What remains in the minds and hearts of others, is how you treated them.

The only thing I would ask of both you and myself, is what a just, moral society asks of all persons regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender: To be honest and kind, to do your best, to avoid harming yourself or others, and to use breath mints. The hygienic component is my add.

Click & Listen

For an interesting, humanistic perspective concerning morality, click and watch the video below. In light of all the recent headlines concerning abuse and coverup within the religious world, the commentary is especially intriguing.

I know, for people of faith the thought of clicking below and listening can be distressing. After all, the fear of being deceived or “led astray” is vexing! But if you feel, as I do for myself, you’re capable of discerning right from wrong, then you have more to gain by listening to another viewpoint. Especially, when it’s a viewpoint other than the one you’ve religiously held to without question for years.